MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Due to weather interfering this past weekend, the West Virginia University rowing team competed in five of its 16 scheduled races at the George Washington Invitational in Washington, D.C.
 
The Regatta was held on the Potomac River near the Thompson Boat Center with strong competition, including Drexel, George Washington, Georgetown, North Carolina, Old Dominion, St. Joseph's and Temple.
 
The weekend's weather forced many events to be canceled, including the entire Saturday afternoon session. The races among the 4s were scratched for the weekend, and the 3V8+ was only able to complete one race. Sustained winds in the area of the course were more than 20 miles per hour with gusts reaching 40+ miles per hour. This unfortunate weather led to white caps and waves coming up to, and even over, the sides of the rowing shells.
 
"As an outdoor water sport, we're more susceptible to the elements than most other outdoor sports. Our crews who were able to race handled extremely challenging conditions rather well," WVU coach Jimmy King said. "We'll garner what we can from the weekend and apply that in preparation for the Mason Invite with hopes of much improved racing conditions."
 
In the Friday session against St. Joe's, the 1V8+ fought hard but came up short. The 2V8+ however, put down the most dominant race of the weekend, finishing over 10 seconds ahead of St. Joe's.
 
In the Saturday session, the 1V8+ and 2V8+ were shifted to a combined race with Old Dominion and Temple. WVU's 1V8+ and 2V8+ boats were not able to put away Temple, but they were successful in defeating Old Dominion. The 3V8+ went head-to-head with George Washington in its sole race for the weekend but was unable to keep up with the home squad.
 
West Virginia returns to action Sunday, April 21 at Sandy Run Regional Park in Fairfax Station, Virginia, as it competes in the George Mason Invitational.

George Washington Invitational Results
Friday Afternoon Session:
Event               Opponent               Lineup (stroke to bow w/ coxswain)
1V8+                St. Joe's                 Abigail Yingling, Teegan Wendley, Ashlea Clark, Violet
                                                       Hewett, Anna Gall, Grace Armstrong, Katherine Capitan,
                                                       Ryleigh Williams w/ Emily DeGlopper
 
2V8+                St. Joe's                 Alexandra Farron, Samantha Krankowski, Nikolina Djordjevic,
                                                       Isabelle Totton, Laurna Atkins, Emma Higgins, Alexis Mitchell,
                                                       Lauren Mueller w/Grace Terlion
 
Saturday Morning Session:
Event               Opponent               Lineup (stroke to bow w/ coxswain)
1V8+                ODU                      Abigail Yingling, Teegan Wendley, Ashlea Clark, Violet
                        Temple                   Hewett, Anna Gall, Grace Armstrong, Katherine Capitan,
                                                       Ryleigh Williams w/ Emily DeGlopper
                                                      
 
2V8+                ODU                      Alexandra Farron, Samantha Krankowski, Nikolina Djordjevic,
                        Temple                   Isabelle Totton, Laurna Atkins, Emma Higgins, Alexis Mitchell,
                                                       Lauren Mueller w/Grace Terlion
 
3V8+                GW                         Adriana Hogan, Una Ilic, Ashlynn Skeba, Samantha Spencer,
                                                       Bailey South, Christina Brunette, Cylie Leidy, Ryleigh Rosta
                                                       w/ Grace Fay